New to carnival

[dancrm12000]

We have always cruised Princess or RCL for 7 night cruises from Florida. We are considering a 4 or 5 night cruise with either Carnival or RCL. Does anyone have a suggestion as to ship or cruise line?

[Cotton]

Well, as far as which cruiseline - you're on the Carnival board, so I bet you'll get mostly "Carnival" as the reply.:D My favorite ship happens to be the oldest and smallest in Carnival's fleet, the Holiday. Lots of other great ships, so I guess you'll have to choose by itinerary or homeport. Carnival has a lot to offer, food, service, entertainment, ports-of-call, largest cabins. Staff and crew are hard to beat. Good luck in your decision, and happy sailin'.

[parkglensteph]

Would love to know why the Holiday is your favorite ship. We've only sailed on the Celebration so far and will sail on the Ecstasy soon but want to plan another cruise for next year.:) We've always sailed out of Galveston since it is so close to home but would love to try another port.

[Cotton]

I guess I prefer smaller ships. I first cruised on the Holiday in 2001, after a long hiatus from cruising...and have sailed on her four times since then.

 

I find the crew and staff friendlier and the food a tad bit better than my last cruise (Sensation), and the Holiday feels comfy to me, like an old shoe.;) She's a much easier ship to learn your way around, and I could probably get anywhere blindfolded by now.:D I haven't been disappointed in anything whatsoever on any of my cruises on the Holiday. She's kept up beautifully, constantly being polished up, and my last cruise, had been refurbished with the wonderful new bedding and carpeting in the cabins. There's not as much glitz, which to me is a good thing. There's no atrium, but an atrium means nothing to me...just another area to walk thru. Just a good overall feeling of friendliness when I'm on the Holiday!

 

Call me sentimental, but I'm really gonna be upset when they retire her...whenever that might be. I plan on at least one more cruise on her before then.:)

[parkglensteph]

I would think a smaller ship would be more intimate. Kinda feel like you are part of the family. Haven't been on a BIG ship yet though to compare the difference.

[SandyW]

If you are only going for 4 or 5 nights it might be a good time to try Carnival.

 

Personally, we prefer Carnival over RCI. However, most of the people we know who really "love" Princess tend to not care for Carnival...or RCI for that matter. Probably because Princess is a step up from both of those.

 

We didn't have enough to do on our RCI cruise...plus we like the option of staying up later and having something to do. We've been on 10 Carnival cruises on 10 different ships. We've enjoyed them all. We have one more class of ship to explore, the Spirit Class - and will do so in a couple of months - and then we'll have been on all the ship classes that Carnival offers. Each class has it's advantages and disadvantages. The smaller, older ones are more intimate. The larger, newer ones are of course more modern.

The ship we felt most crowded on was RCIs Radiance of the Seas but that was probably because everyone who normally would stay out by the pool couldn't because of the weather.

 

One of the advantages Carnival offers is cabin size...they tend to run larger than other cruise lines (I'm not sure this is true of the suites as we haven't booked those.)

 

Since you've cruised Princess (now owned by Carnival) you may be able to get past guest discounts on Carnival.

[MrPete]

I also liked the smaller ships, but I like the medium range ones as well. I found the smaller ones has a more community feel to it. You get to see the people you are sailing with. One the larger ships, there's an endless sea of faces.

 

All I can say is if I never found myself to be bored on any size, and if I were, I'd blame myself.

 

Whatever you choose, you are most certainly going to have a good time. If you are looking for a FUN element, chose Carnival.

[gingerbug77]

I guess I prefer smaller ships. I first cruised on the Holiday in 2001, after a long hiatus from cruising...and have sailed on her four times since then.

 

I find the crew and staff friendlier and the food a tad bit better than my last cruise (Sensation), and the Holiday feels comfy to me, like an old shoe.;) She's a much easier ship to learn your way around, and I could probably get anywhere blindfolded by now.:D I haven't been disappointed in anything whatsoever on any of my cruises on the Holiday. She's kept up beautifully, constantly being polished up, and my last cruise, had been refurbished with the wonderful new bedding and carpeting in the cabins. There's not as much glitz, which to me is a good thing. There's no atrium, but an atrium means nothing to me...just another area to walk thru. Just a good overall feeling of friendliness when I'm on the Holiday!

 

Call me sentimental, but I'm really gonna be upset when they retire her...whenever that might be. I plan on at least one more cruise on her before then.:)

 

I noticed that you have been on Holiday several times. Can you tell me anything about the balcony rooms (we will be in V10 because only rooms with obstructed views were left when we booked--even though I have now noticed that V8 has opened back up but it also has obstructed view). We will have 5 women (very close friends) and we are hoping that we will not be too crowded. According to travel agent, Carnival will supply us with a rollaway. Any advice you can give us would be much appreciated!

[MGilly]

We've cruised three times on Carnival and four times on RCI. We have another cruise booked on Carnival for this winter. We've never been dissatisfied with either line. Carnival is definitely a bit glitzier - more neon and such. The food on both lines is comparable. We expected that the food on RCI would be quite a bit better, but we were happily surprised that food on both lines was very good. Service really does depend on the individuals supplying the service, but again, we've never been disappointed. As far as activities, we were always able to find something to do at just about any hour on both lines. As far as we can tell, it really comes down to decor. Since we don't care what colors the ship is decorated in, we let the itinerary and price be our major influences in deciding which ship/line to sail on. Whatever you choose, remember that a cruise is only as good as your attitude. If you plan to enjoy whatever comes your way, you will!

[Live_2_cruise05]

We have had a blast on every cruise and line we have been on; but Carnival has always been my favorite! Not all Carnival ships are neon though. The older ships are. The only one that we have been on that was not neon was the Elation! She is such a beautiful ship! I have sailed both sister ships to the Holiday which are the same size etc. The Jubilee and Celebration. When we sailed the Jubilee we were in room V-7. A lifeboat half covered the balcony, but it was not too bad! The only thing that the Holiday class ships don't have is a big atrium! There is just a lobby. It really never bothered us. We actually thought that the Holiday class ships were more personal! They are our favorite class ships! Although the Elation (Fantasy class) is our favorite ship!